A guide to tackling cancer, one step at a time

How do you deal with the maze of ordeals that follow a cancer diagnosis? In his new book, Cancer: instructions for usejournalist Sophie Marcotte answers the thousand and one questions that accompany this ordeal that she herself went through.

Why was it important to brighten up your remarks with a few touches of humor?

“All the same, it was a bit difficult to find, precisely so that I didn’t seem to find it funny – because it isn’t. But I didn’t want it to be dark either; I wanted to show that it could be less bad than you think, that you could get through without always lying in a ball crying. »

You say you wrote this guide when you got back on your feet; but was the intention there from the start?

“Maybe a month after I got my diagnosis, just before I started chemo, a lot of people were asking me questions. I also documented myself a lot and I realized that there was no book that met my expectations and the practical questions I had. I found a lot of info on the side effects of the treatments, but that wasn’t just what I wanted to know. What gave me the most reassurance or answers was talking to people who had had cancer or who still had cancer: knowing how chemo had gone for them, what they brought into the chemo room – things more rooted in everyday life. I told myself that I am surely not the only one who wants to know that a little in advance to ease the anxiety. Every day, I took lots of notes on how I felt, how long my treatment was going to last – because of course the chemo is the big scary part of this journey. I took pictures of myself every two weeks to illustrate how quickly the hair grows back, the eyebrows. So the book was in my sights pretty much from the beginning, but I started writing it after my first surgery, in February 2022. By then, it had been a month since I had finished chemo, I I had started to have more energy to work and through that I was finding moments to write because I really needed to write. »

You wrote the book as if you were speaking to a friend you are familiar with. Why this choice ?

“I had started at vous, then I switched to tu because when I was in the chemo room, half of the women – it was a center specialized in breast cancer – were in their 20s or 30s, so younger than me. It really shocked me because I expected to be the youngest at 43 – but not at all. So I said to myself that we had to speak to these girls in a more direct, more intimate way, then indeed, by speaking with some of them, I saw that we had the same concerns and uncertainties. . »

Through everything we go through when we have to fight cancer, how can we protect ourselves from certain awkward words we may be told?

“Me, it went in one ear and out the other. I wasn’t cursed because someone said to me: ‘Ah, you’re sure to get better, you’re so strong. I took the positive from that and the rest, I automatically forgot. I have a friend who also had cancer, and she was angry to be told certain things. Seems like I didn’t have the energy to spend being upset about blunders like that. Myself, I have already been clumsy. »

What’s the worst deal you can say to a person with cancer?

“Nothing happens for nothing. That annoyed me, for example. I understand that means that you’re still going to get something positive out of this ordeal, but how it’s worded, it’s as if it had to happen. No, I would have done without it, even if I got some positives out of it. »

Do you feel like you are a different person today?today?

” Yes. I discovered that I had a strength that I didn’t know I had. I feel more comfortable doing lots of things that used to stress me out a lot, like doing radio interviews. While there, everything becomes not very serious, not very stressful. Same with medical exams that are unrelated to cancer. Unconsciously, I say to myself: you went through cancer, so you are strong enough to do such and such a thing. I’m much more relaxed, I’m less anxious about a lot of things I’m afraid I won’t be able to do and I dwell less on a lot of details. I’m also savoring life a lot more, especially the times with the people I love, and I’m more aware of the possibility that everything will end. It’s super cheesy, cliché, but it’s a degree of awareness and gratitude that I believe is only achieved when you’ve come close to death. Our finitude becomes extremely real. »

Sophie Marcotte will be signing at the Salon du livre de Québec, from April 12 to 16.

Cancer: instructions for use

Sophie Marcotte

Cardinal Editions

208 pages